Chris Froome completes Tour de France - Vuelta a Espana double

Image 1 of 57

Chris Froome (Team Sky) sealed the Tour de France - Vuelta a Espana double, finishing the final stage of the Spanish Grand Tour safely in the back.

The stage was won by Matteo Trentin (Quick-Step Floors), who held off late challenges from Lorrenzo Manzin (FDJ) and Søren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb) to take the spoils in Madrid. Froome finished 11th on the stage, doing enough to also secure the points jersey ahead of Trentin.

In wining, Froome becomes the first rider since Bernard Hinault to win the Tour and the Vuelta, and the first British rider to win the Spanish Grand Tour. The Team Sky leader has now won five Grand Tours in a remarkable five-year spell.

The stage in Madrid also marked Alberto Contador's (Trek Segafredo) final outing. The winner on the Angliru stage led the race into Madrid to take the applause from the home crowd before sitting up and crossing the line behind the main field. A small gap saw Contador drop from fourth to fifth on GC, with Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) the beneficiary.

Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida) and Ilnur Zakarin (Team Katusha) rounded out the final podium.

"It's an amazing feeling," Froome said immediately after the finish. "The team has just been incredible over the last few months.

"I have to say that is probably the toughest Grand Tour I've ever ridden. There was something different happening every day. I've had good days and then I've been lying on the ground, bleeding, thinking my race might be over. It's been a rollercoaster – absolutely relentless. It's a relief now to finish and to be getting to Madrid.

"I think it probably is my greatest achievement, being the first person to win the Tour de France and then go on to win the Vuelta," Froome said.

For Trentin, there was the consolation of a fourth Grand Tour stage win in three weeks. The Italian had a slim chance of taking the Green Jersey from Froome on the final stage and after a relaxed, rolling start it was Quick-Step who hit the front as the race hit the finishing circuit for the first time.

Until that point the mood had been one of celebration, with riders posing for photographs after three weeks of demanding racing. Contador was given the honour of leading the race into Madrid, soaking up the atmosphere and waving to spectators at the side of the road.

The mood changed when Team Sky hit the front, clearly intent on holding onto the Green jersey, but Froome was squeezed out of the points at the intermediate sprint by Quick-Step.

Rui Costa, Alessandro De Marchi and Nicholas Schultz formed a dangerous looking break, but Quick-Step patrolled the front and never the trio out of sight.

With one lap remaining, the sprinters' teams jostled for control, but Trentin was well positioned and in the sprint to the line there was no opposition – except for Froome, who finished in 11th place.

"It was a good job," Trentin said. "It's a really nice victory to have. Froome told me he wanted to defend the jersey and he made it. That's four victories I got but no points jersey, so it's a bit of a joke. But I won two sprint stages and two hard stages and I can be happy with that."

Astana claimed the team classification, while Davide Villella won the King of the mountains jersey. The red jersey, however, belonged to Froome.

Full Results